The cycling world has lost another bright light.
Moriah Wilson, also known as “Mo”, was in Austin, TX on Wednesday, May 11th preparing for the Gravel Locos race (a 150+ mile gravel race) on Saturday, May 14th in which she was favored to win.
On Wednesday evening, a 911 call was placed from a home in East Austin. According to the report from the Austin Police Department, “when police and investigators arrived on scene, they discovered a 25 year-old female suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Despite life-saving measures performed by EMS and police officers, the victim died from her injuries.”
Investigators announced on Saturday they have identified a person of interest and do not believe the homicide was a random act. No further information has been made available.
Moriah was a star on the rise in the gravel racing scene: In April alone, she took the win at the Sea Otter Fuego 80km mountain bike race—the first race in the Life Time Grand Prix Series—and also won the 136-mile Belgian Waffle Ride (BWR). Those race wins put her in the lead in both the Life Time Grand Prix and the BWR Quadruple Crown of Gravel series.
She was a former Specialized employee and recently left her job to focus on her professional racing career. Her sporting career began as a skier in Vermont. She skied for Dartmouth College before shifting her focus to cycling.
Click here to read the full news article (courtesy of Bicycling Magazine.)